future, when he alone has the power both of settling the system
of peace and of waging wars; when everyone looks to him only,
when he alone directs everything. When he is distracted with
so many and so great affairs that he cannot breathe freely, (it is
no wonder then) if there be something which escapes his atten-
tion, particularly when so many men watch his engagements and
seize the opportunity like bird-catchers, so that, the moment he
has looked away, they plot something of this kind. To this is
added the fact, that, no matter how Fortunate (Felix) ¹ he may be,
as he is, still such good fortune cannot attend anyone, who in
a vast establishment (in magna familia) has not any slave or
freedman who is not a wicked fellow."

The conspirators were afraid of but one future contingency:
it might happen after Sulla had passed away, that the outraged
and innocent heir might reassert his claim to his father's fortune.
Therefore they determined to remove the son and heir by a bold
stroke; they would indict him for parricide, and so on the one
hand secure their title for all future time and on the other hand
cover up their own crime in the most impressive manner. The
younger Roscius found shelter in the house of a Roman lady of
the aristocracy (27), Caecilia Metella, ² otherwise a second stroke
of a poniard might have been provided for. Chrysogonus and
his accomplices were sure that they would not meet with any
serious obstacle, but it was actually the first important trial for
murder after the reorganization (28) of the courts, the first one,
too, after a long suspension of courts and regular procedure:
severity would be a great point for the prosecution. ³ An extraor-
dinary case: what great fortune was it for the young pleader to
be chosen! His ambition and his sense of professional power
overcame his natural timidity. And we must not close our eyes
to the fact that Cicero from his definite beginnings onward had a
way of fixing his mind (with a glow and fervor akin to genius)
on the underlying verities of any given case and on the general
truths inherent in them. ⁴ And in this case, dealing with the

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